Chiang Rai · Thailand · 20.15° N · 99.85° E
Solar position in Mae Chan
Sun position, daylight and the best solar panel angle for Mae Chan — computed for 20.15° N, 99.85° E, 416 m above sea level.
The sun right now
Sun in Mae Chan today
Sunday, 25 October 2026 · local time UTC+7
| Event | Time | Direction / height |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 05:04 | sun 18° below horizon |
| Nautical dawn | 05:30 | 12° below |
| Civil dawn | 05:56 | 6° below |
| Sunrise | 06:19 | 103° ESE |
| Golden hour ends | 06:49 | sun 6° up |
| Solar noon | 12:04 | 57.8° high |
| Golden hour starts | 17:20 | sun 6° up |
| Sunset | 17:50 | 257° WSW |
| Civil dusk | 18:12 | 6° below |
| Nautical dusk | 18:38 | 12° below |
| Astronomical dusk | 19:04 | 18° below |
| Day length | 11 h 31 min | |
Sun path diagram for Mae Chan
Where the sun stands in the sky: the centre is straight overhead, the outer ring is the horizon. Numbers mark local clock hours.
- June solstice
- Equinox
- December solstice
- Today
On the June solstice the sun reaches 86.7° at solar noon in Mae Chan; on the December solstice only 46.4°. Sunrise swings from 65° ENE in June to 115° ESE in December — a 50° arc along the horizon.
Sunrise, sunset and sun height by month
Values for the 21st of each month, local clock time including daylight saving time.
| Month | Sunrise | Solar noon | Sunset | Day length | Noon elevation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 06:58 | 12:31 | 18:05 | 11 h 07 min | 50.0° |
| February | 06:46 | 12:34 | 18:22 | 11 h 36 min | 59.3° |
| March | 06:24 | 12:27 | 18:31 | 12 h 08 min | 70.1° |
| April | 05:58 | 12:19 | 18:40 | 12 h 43 min | 81.7° |
| May | 05:42 | 12:17 | 18:52 | 13 h 10 min | 90.0° |
| June | 05:41 | 12:22 | 19:02 | 13 h 21 min | 86.7° |
| July | 05:51 | 12:27 | 19:02 | 13 h 11 min | 89.7° |
| August | 06:02 | 12:23 | 18:45 | 12 h 43 min | 82.0° |
| September | 06:09 | 12:13 | 18:18 | 12 h 09 min | 70.6° |
| October | 06:17 | 12:05 | 17:52 | 11 h 35 min | 59.2° |
| November | 06:32 | 12:06 | 17:39 | 11 h 07 min | 50.0° |
| December | 06:51 | 12:18 | 17:45 | 10 h 55 min | 46.4° |
A year of daylight in Mae Chan
Each column is one day of 2026. Bright: sun above the horizon; soft: civil twilight; line: solar noon. Steps are daylight saving time changes.
Best solar panel angle in Mae Chan
Fixed array facing south (azimuth 180°). Energy per kWp from NASA POWER monthly climate, including clouds, temperature and snow reflection.
23°collects the most energy over a year: 1499 kWh per kWp.
3°gives the most in the darkest month — the one an off-grid system is sized for.
- Yearly energy
- Worst-month energy
| Tilt | kWh/kWp per year | Share of best year | July kWh/kWp/day | Best ÷ worst month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 1405 | 94% | 3.43 | 1.4× |
| 3° off-grid best | 1428 | 95% | 3.42 | 1.4× |
| 15° | 1488 | 99% | 3.31 | 1.5× |
| 20° = latitude | 1498 | 100% | 3.24 | 1.5× |
| 23° year-round best | 1499 | 100% | 3.19 | 1.6× |
| 30° | 1490 | 99% | 3.05 | 1.7× |
| 45° | 1411 | 94% | 2.64 | 1.9× |
| 60° | 1257 | 84% | 2.13 | 2.3× |
| 70° | 1118 | 75% | 1.76 | 2.6× |
| 90° | 799 | 53% | 1.21 | 3.1× |
A fixed array in Mae Chan produces the most over a year at 23°. The design month for an off-grid system is July: at 3° it makes 3.42 kWh per kWp a day, 7% more than at 23°, and costs 5% of the yearly total. Why steep panels win winter.
Off-grid solar in Mae Chan at 70°
Daily energy of 1 kWp by month. Bars: panels at 70°. Line: panels at 23° (year-round best).
| Month | Sun hours, flat | Sun hours at 70° | kWh/kWp/day at 70° | at 23° | Mean temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.47 | 5.40 | 4.55 | 4.62 | 18.2 °C |
| February | 5.32 | 5.25 | 4.39 | 5.05 | 20.6 °C |
| March | 5.52 | 4.13 | 3.40 | 4.69 | 23.7 °C |
| April | 5.93 | 3.30 | 2.67 | 4.60 | 26.4 °C |
| May | 5.53 | 2.54 | 2.04 | 4.07 | 26.0 °C |
| June | 4.84 | 2.29 | 1.84 | 3.53 | 25.3 °C |
| July | 4.32 | 2.19 | 1.76 | 3.19 | 24.5 °C |
| August | 4.26 | 2.44 | 1.97 | 3.26 | 24.1 °C |
| September | 4.56 | 3.08 | 2.52 | 3.69 | 24.0 °C |
| October | 4.44 | 3.77 | 3.12 | 3.92 | 22.7 °C |
| November | 4.47 | 5.05 | 4.23 | 4.46 | 20.3 °C |
| December | 4.12 | 5.17 | 4.37 | 4.32 | 17.8 °C |
| Year | 4.81 avg | 3.71 avg | 1118 kWh | 1499 kWh |
Sizing example. To run a 1 kWh-per-day load through July on LiFePO4 batteries (charge controller, battery and inverter losses included) you need about 670 Wp of panels at 70°, versus 370 Wp at 23°. Here the lower tilt is the better winter choice — the sun stays high enough. Size your own system.
Row spacing in Mae Chan
Distance between rows of 2 m long panels (slope length) so that no row shades the next between 10:00 and 14:00 solar time on the winter solstice.
2.7 mrow pitch at 70°
2.7 mrow pitch at 23°
How Mae Chan compares in Thailand
Against the other 294 places in Thailand with climate data, for a fixed array at its best angle.
286thof 295 places in Thailand for sunshine, shared: 4.81 peak sun hours a day on flat ground.
−1%solar energy a year compared with the average place in Thailand: 1,500 against 1,509 kWh per kWp.
+25 mindaylight on the longest day, compared with Bangkok: 13 h 21 min against 12 h 56 min.
23°best year-round tilt here; across Thailand it runs from 4° in Narathiwat to 23° in Mae Chan.
Of the 295 places in Thailand, Bangkok and 7 other places get the most sun (5.23 peak sun hours a day) and Mae Ramat the least (4.74); Mae Chan ranks joint 286th. In its darkest month, July, 1 kWp of off-grid panels at 70° makes 1.76 kWh a day here, against 1.53 kWh on average in Thailand. The shortest day lasts 10 h 55 min, −24 min compared with Bangkok.
Solar forecast for Mae Chan, next 48 hours
Expected output of 1 kWp at 70°, computed from the ICON-EU weather model of the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), Europe.
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Questions about the sun in Mae Chan
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Places near Mae Chan
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A free, live card for Mae Chan: where the sun is right now on today's path, a countdown to sunset or sunrise, the daylight change, the moon phase at night and the best panel angle.
Sun positions: NREL Solar Position Algorithm. Climate: NASA POWER monthly climatology (NASA Langley Research Center). Forecast: Deutscher Wetterdienst, ICON-EU (CC BY 4.0), processed. Places: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Time zones: IANA. Sources and licences.